Process of and apparatus for combustion of fuel



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

, W. BLACK. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR COMBUSTION 0P FUEL. No.541,063. Patented June 18, 1896.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shem; 2.

W; BLAOK. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR COMBUSTION OF FUEL.

Patented June 18, 1895.-

UNrrn STATES ,ATENT Erica.

WALTER BLACK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR COMBUSTION OF FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 541,063, dated June18,1895, Application filed August 1,1894. Serial No. 519,143. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER BLACK, Of Chicago, Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and tional elevationtaken on line 1 of Fig 2;. Fig.

2, a side elevation in section taken on line 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 aportion of the side wall of the furnace hereinafter described.

My invention relates more particularly to the construction of the firebox and the process of,combustion carried on therein.

It has been the aim of personsskilled in this particular art to producea furnace in which complete combustion could be carried on; or, in otherwords,in which the maximum efficiency of the fuel during combustionmight be obtained. Various improvements have been made in this line toobtain the desired result, and various'resultshavethereby been obtained.

In carrying outmy improved process and constructing a heating apparatusin which the process'may be performed, I provide two fuel chambers, A,A", adjacent to each other, which are supplied with the usual gratebars, a a, and a common ash pit, B, thereunder. An ordinary bridge wall,0, separates these two fuel chambers and is provided, preferably nearits lower end, with a series of openings, 19, which permit acommunication between the two chambers. Each of these fuel chambers areprovided in the rear with hinged doors, D, D, adapted to beopened orclosed when desired to permit the heated gases and products ofcombustion to pass out and through the boiler into a smoke stack.

I place the fuel tobe consumed first in one chamber-say the chamberA,ignite the same, apply thefdraftin the usualmanner,

through the doors, B, of the ash pit, until the fuel contained insuchchamber has reached a point approximate to an incandescent heat. It willbe understood, of course,

that the draft door atthe rear of the chamber will be opened duringthisinitial combustion. As soon as the coal in the first chamber, A, hasreached a point of incandescence, I start a fire in the other fuelchamber, A, and add green fuel to the same. I immediately close thedoor, D, in the initial chamber, which action forces the heated gasesand products of combustion to pass through the openings, 1), in thebridge wall over the mass of burning green fuel and intermingle with thedistilled gases in the same. This action furnishes a sufficient degreeof heat above the point where the distilled gases are formed, over thegreen fuel; and, as hereinafter described,furnishes such distilled gaseswith the necessary amount of oxygen, so that they immediately take fireand combustion takes place before the same has passed out of the fuelchamber into the ordinary combustion chamber, where it may contact-witha boiler or other receptacle to be heated. This action prevents theformation of smoke, and as a consequence gives me a very high eificiencyin the combustion of fuel. I

To supply either furnace with an additional quantity of atmospheric airnecessary to sup- ..port combustion, after the addition of green fuel toeither chamber,I makethe lower portion of the bridge wall, immediatelyunder the openings that connect each chamber, with a smooth face to apoint above the height of the burning fuel-say six inchesand I providethis portion of the bridge wall with an air chamber, E, having itsopenings, e e, into each of the individual fuel chambers. This chamber,E, is provided with steam pipes, G, that are connected by means of thepipes, G, with the boiler, for the purpose of furnishing them with asupply of steam under boiler pressure, and each of these pipes isprovided with valves, g, to regulate the amount of steam furnished toeither of the pipes, G. The steam pipes in the air chamber are providedwith a series of nozzles, 9, that project almost, but not quite, throughthe openings,

ea, at an angle of about forty-five degrees wall and extend out adesired distancesay about five inches.

In operation, when the fuel in one chamber has become coked and greenfuel has been added to the adjacent chamber, steam is admitted to one ofthe pipes, G, preferably the one whose nozzles extend out toward thefuel chamber in which the green fuel is being con su med. As shown inthe drawings, it extends into the chamber, A, so that it impingesdirectly against the deflecting plate and is projected in a cloud orspray above such burning fuel, so that it keeps the heated gases whichpass from the coked fuel in the adjacent chamber, down in contact withthe bed of green fuel. The steam jets also act as an injector, creatingartificial draft-that is, draw in from the air chamber, E, a certainamount of atmospheric air which furnishes the desired amount of oxygento support combustion. As soon as the green fuel has been consumed tosuch an extent that it becomes coked, the steam is shut off fromentering that chamber, its rear door closed and the door opened in theopposite passage, to which green fuel may be added if desired, and theprocess reversed.

I have merely outlined my theory of what I consider the actions thattake place in the furnace by watching it closely in operation. It isprobable that other chemical actions take place of which I am not aware,and I do not, therefore, desire to be understood as givin g a fullscientific explanation of the theory of combustion taking place in myfurnace,

- nor do I think it necessary; but only so much of it as will enablethose skilled in the art to construct a furnace and put it intopractical operation.

For convenience in construction, I mount the rear doors, D and E, uponpivots, d and d, which are provided with levers, D at their outer endswhich may be engaged with suitable notches, C22, in the side of thebrick wall of the furnace, for the purpose of holding it in its open orpartially open positions.

The fuel chamberis provided with the usual doors, I, through which fuelis added to the chambers when desired.

In other respects, the boiler, K, may be made of any usual form ofconstrnction-my improvements being entirely in the process of using andthe construction of the fuel, or fire box, as some term it.

It is well known that smoke once formed cannot be consumed; but it is acommon error among inventors to suppose that it can be and numerousapparatus have beendesigned to pass smoke and uneonsu med gases whichhave once been formed over or through a mass of incandescent fuel toconsume it, which is demonstrated to be a common error. Smoke is notconsumed. It is rendered invisible by passing the same through anincandescent bed of fuel. The gist of my invention, as set forth, isthat I make an initial fire which is raised to a high temperature,preferably above a point where it ceases to smoke, then making a secondgreen fire and passing the highly heated gases of the first or live fireover the mass of green burning fuel in the second fire. This operationis very advantageous, in that the requisite amount of atmospheric airwhich is highly heated is furnished to the mass of green burning fuel tomingle with the distilled gases before smoke is formed.

While I have described my invention with more or less minuteness, and asbeing embodied in precise forms, I do not intend to be limited theretounduly any more than is pointed out in the claims. On the contrary, Icontemplate all proper changes in form, construction and arrangement,the omission of parts and the use of equivalents, as circumstances maysuggest or necessity render expedient.

I claim- 1. The process in the combustion of fuel which consists inmaking an initial fire, then a second or green fire, passing the heatedgases from the first or live fire over the mass of burning fuel of thesecond or green fire to assist in consuming the distilled gases of thesecond fire, substantially as described.

2. The process in the combustion of fuel which consists in making aninitial or live fire, then a second or green fire, passing the heatedgases from the first live fire over the mass of burning fuel in thesecond or green fire to supply the requisite amount of oxygen and assistin consuming the gases of the second green fire, adding fresh fuel tothe initial live fire, whereby it becomes a green fire, and passing theheated gases from the second fire which has become a live fire over thebed of green fuel in'the initial fire to assist in consuming thedistilled gases arising from such green fuel, substantially asdescribed.

3. In heating apparatus, the combination of a furnace provided with twofuel chambers, a bridge Wall separating such chambers and provided withan openingorseries ofopenings, and a deflecting plate in the bridge wallabove such openings, substantially as described.

4:. In heating apparatus, the combination of a furnace provided with twoor more fuel chambers, a bridge wall separating such chambers andprovided with perforations near its lower end, a wall in the rear ofsuch fuel chambers each provided with an opening, means fol-opening andclosing such rear openings as desired, a portion of the bridge wall nearits lower end provided with an air chamber having perforations connectedwith each of the fuel chambers, and steam pipes in such air chamberconnected with a source of steam pressure for admitting steam andinjecting air into either fuel chamber as desired, snbstantially asdescribed.

5. In heating apparatus, the combination of a furnace provided with twofuel chambers, a bridgewall separating such fuel chambers provided withopenings or perforations conmeeting each fuel chamber near its lower endand an air chamber in such bridge wall provided with perforationscommunicating with each of the fuel chambers,.a deflector plate ineachfuel chamber located above the openings of the bridge wall, and twosteam pipes in such air chamber provided with nozzles extending outinthe direction of the deflector plate for the purpose of furnishing asupply of steam and injecting air into either chamber as desired,substantially as described.

6. In heating apparatus, the combination of a furnace provided with twofuel chambers,

a bridge wall separating such fuel chambers and provided with an openingor series of openings and an air chamber in'its lower portion, and aseries of perforations connecting such air chamber with each fuelchamber for the purpose of furnishing an additional supply of air abovethe point of the burning fuel, substantially as described.

7. In heating apparatus, the combination of a furnace provided with twofuel chambers,

a bridge wall'separating such chambers provided with openings near itslower end and an air chamber having perforations connected described.

WALTER BLACK. Witnesses: I

THOMAS F. SHERIDAN, JOHN BLACK.

